Method and apparatus for erecting a bridge structure



W. C. GUNN Jan. 10, 1967 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ERECTING A BRIDGE STRUCTURE Filed Nov. 17, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR WILBUR C. GUNN I fig? ATTORNEY W. C. GUNN Jan. 10, 1967 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ERECTING A BRIDGE STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 17, 1965 INVENTOR WILBUR c. GUNN ATTORNEYf United States Patent 3,296,640 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ERECTING A BRIDGE STRUCTURE Wilbur C. Gunu, 1643 S. Gunn Road, Holt, Mich. 48842 Filed Nov. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 508,322 4 Claims. (Cl. 1477) This is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending application Serial Number 300,760, filed August 8, 1963, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for erecting bridge structures. It is particularly suited to bridges of smaller sizes where one span will bridge the stream or roadway over which it passes, although additional spans may be necessary to join such spans to the roadway of which it forms a part.

The construction of such small bridges for roadways and the like has required highly expensive piling, complex aligning of extensions from the footing, and special connection as between the vertical bridge columns and decking. The present invention allows the piling to become the column or vertical support for the span and allows span elements to control or guide the positioning, driving and spacing of the column or piling. Then the span is merely elevated from its role of guide templet and integrated with the pilings at a selected elevation. This is in substantial contrast to the flotation techniques involved in US. Letters Patent 2,997,852 to G. E. Suderow and in the building erection field as exemplified in the disclosures of C. A. Patterson in U.S. Letters Patent 2,078,- 969. In the former, telescoping vertical extensions are lowered from a barge to provide an ultimate platform support. In the latter, the intermediate platform is elevated on vertical members which are non-integral with the footings or piling and in which each footing or piling element is separately located as distinguished from a control grid where the span provides a driving and locating guide in situ.

This invention also contrasts with prior known techniques such as that shown in US Letters Patent 3,028,707 to W. Sagalovitch, by showing a new pile guiding method and structure which gives positively defined vertical alignment of a pile, at the same time minimizing undesirable frictional force against guided movement of the pile with respect to the guiding points.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a method of erecting a bridge structure which is extremely economical to build because the span or spans can be preassembled while located on the ground where they are to be placed, then piles can be driven guidably through tubular sleeves integral with the spans, and the spans raised directly on the piles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of erecting a bridge structure in which a span acts as a templet or guide for driving the piles which will support the bridge.

Another object is to provide guide elements for assembly or preassembly in span elements in which the guides are adapted to the uniform cross section of the piles at selected spacing intervals determined by the design of the particular span.

These objects will more fully appear in the following specification, when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the final assembly of a three span bridge framework embodying the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the center span of the bridge after assembly, showing the proximity of the bridge span and guide elements to the ground, for positionlee ing of the vertical piles prior to elevation of the span thereon.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the center span of the bridge, showing the specific structure of the guide elements.

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of a portion of the center span, showing the registry of the guide plate apertures with the cross section of the vertical support piles.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on substantially line 5--5 of FIGURE 4, and showing the passage of a vertical support pile through the guide element, with the support pile held away from frictional engagement with the tube portion of the guide element.

General description The present invention in general comprises a site fabricated or prefabricated deck grid with vertical pile orienting guide elements in assembled aligned and spaced relation secured to the grid so that piling can be guidably driven therethrough and when landed the piling provides an erection framework along which the grid is raised. Process-wise, the grid is positioned in proximate register to the ground in a selected horizontal position so that ground entry is immediate and vertical pile orientation is easily maintained. The piles then become the vertical support columns to which the grid-deck is finally secured at the selected elevation required. Erection is simple and uncomplicated for small bridges and even plural matched span bridges.

Specific description Referring now to the drawings in more detail, FIGURE 1 shows the framework of a three span bridge crossing a small stream or roadway 10. The bridge comprises a center span 12 and two end spans 14.

The center span is made up of a plurality of longitudinal beams 16 at each end of which is welded or otherwise secured an upright tubular suuporting guide member 17. The vertical guide elements 17 are connected together at their upper ends by plates 20 to form a rigid span framework. Hence the span 12 is seen to comprise a templet in which the tubular guide members 17 are specifically and accurately located.

FIGURE 4 shows guide plates 22 welded transversely across each end of the tube portion 18 of guide element 17. The plates 22 have aligned I-I-shaped openings 22' which are adapted to receive H piles 24 (having l-I-shaped cross section). The openings 22 thus have a configura-- tion similar to the cross sectional configuration of the piles 24. The fit between the openings 22' in the plates 22 and the piles 24 is such that the support members or piles 24 can slide therein. This orients the piles 24 with respect to the framework of the center span 12 and aligns the piles 24 with the vertical axis of the tubular guide 17. It will be understood, of course, that the cross-sectional shape of the piles 24 is not of great importance insofar as the present invention is concerned except that the crosssection of the opening 22 must register with the cross section of piling 24 while providing a sliding fit therefor.

Preferably, a stub support 26 is attached to each guide member 18 opposite the beam 16 and aligned therewith. This support may consist of a short section of beam with the top flange and web cut back to leave the lower flange 28 extending out to support a beam of the adjacent end span 14. The provision of the stub support 26 is not absolutely essential, however, as the beams of the end span may be attached directly to the guide members, as by welding, when the bridge is completed.

The bridge deck framework may be assembled directly on the ground or even pre-assernbled at a remote site, but preferably is assembled as in FIGURE 2 on temporary supporting beams or sills 30, which may be laid on the ground in a leveled condition defining a horizontal plane between the two ground points to be spanned. The center span 24 of the bridge is assembled in a position directly below that which it is to occupy when the bridge is completed. The piles 24 are then inserted into the guide members 17 through the openings 22' in the plates 22 and driven into the ground to load bearing level as shown. During this process of driving the piles, the guide members 17 and the plates 22 support and guide the piles in their proper position. This guide relationship is enhanced by the fact that the span 12 to which the guides 17 are secured provides a templet establishing the piles 24 in proper location based on the horizontal orientation of the span 12. Obviously the piles must be long enough so that their upper ends will be at or above the level of the bridge deck framework when it is raised to its final position.

The piles 24 are held in proper vertical orientation, while being driven, by the guide members 17, so that it is not necessary to bend them to fit the framework. Thus the framework 12 in conjunction with guides 17 serves as a grid type driving guide for simultaneously positioning all piles 24 accurately.

After the piles 24 are all guidably driven to load bearing depth, the center span 12 of the bridge is raised by jacks or other suitable means to its correct elevation in coordination with end spans 14 or an adjacent road bed. The guides 17 are then welded or otherwise secured to the piles 24. This will support the center span 12 of the bridge temporarily. Additional support and bracing may be provided in the form of cross beams 32 shown in FIGURE 1 as I beams placed on opposite sides of the piles 24 directly beneath the lower guide plates 22. The beams 32 are welded to the piles 24 after the center span 12 is secured in place. The cross beams 32 shoulder against the ends of guides 17, providing excellent buttressing support at the joint thus formed and providing uniform load distribution as between adjacent guides 17 and their respective piles 24.

It can be seen that in this method of using guide members 17 integrated with the span structure 12 no temporary scaffolding or false work need be erected. Instead the span 12 is fabricated on the ground. Moreover there is no problem of accurately laying out the arrangement of the vertical support members so that they coincide with the parts of the span to which they attach. The vertical members or piles are prealigned with the appropriate support points of the span 12 because they are automatically positioned by the guides 17. Furthermore deviation from proper alignment and vertical orientation during driving of the piles 24 is prevented because the piles 24 are driven through the guides 17 which keep all piles 24 in proper relative position. A key feature of the present device and apparatus is that the ends of the piles 24 are positioned at or proximate to the ground or earth. Thus little deviation of the pile alignment can occur between the guide element 17 and the ground into which the pile 24 is to be driven. This is a distinct advantage over the prior known techniques where guiding of the piles was done at a substantial distance above the ground and wherein the lower end of the pile could deviate from its guide determined position as it traveled toward the ground.

The end spans 14 consist of beams 34 and guide members 36 attached to the outer ends only of the beams 34. The guides 36 are similar to guide members 17 and are similarly connected together by plates 38. The end spans 14 of the bridge are placed as shown in FIGURE 1, and the ends of the beams 34 adjacent to the center span are attached to the stub supports 26 by welding or otherwise. The outer ends of the end spans 14 are secured in place by piles driven through guides 36. The end spans 14 are ultimately welded or otherwise secured to the piles 24.

present invention is thus The projecting ends of all piles 24 are cut off flush with the upper plates 22 on the guide members 17 and 36.

After the framework is erected, the deck frame may be covered in any suitable manner to form a traveling surface.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention provides a relatively simple and economical method of fabricating and erecting a bridge. The tubular guides are easily integrated into the frame structure. The individual parts may be made up into sub-assemblies and moved onto the job where they are erected, or they may be assembled on the side in a position to be raised. No scaffolding is necessary to support the individual parts as they are assembled, as has been the case heretofore. Furthermore, the bridge framework itself positions and guides the piles while they are being driven so that each pile is in exactly the position necessary to properly support the bridge deck after it is elevated to its final load bearing position above the ground.

The apparatus of the present invention has particular merit in the specific guide structure 17. Referring to FIGURE 3, the details of the guide element may be appreciated. The tube 18 is provided with two transverse guide plate portions 22 which close each end of the tubular guide. Each guide plate 22 has an aperture 22' which fits around the cross section of a pile 24. The tube 18 is sized slightly larger than any cross sectional dimension of the piling 24. The upper and lower apertures 22 thus hold a piling 24 in snug sliding fit. The upper and lower apertures 22 are vertically aligned so as to retain the piling 24 inside the tube 18 without the piling contacting the surface of the tube. This relation is best appreciated by reference to FIGURE 5. Thus the only contacts existing between the piling 24 and guide element 17 are the substantially lineal contacts established by the two guide plates 22. The plates 22 provide a pair of vertically spaced apart horizontal restraints on the piling 24 and thereby positively define its vertical orientation. Since the orientation is such that the piling 24 does not contact the surface of tube 18, the frictional resistance of the guide element to driving of the piles 24 or raising of the span 12 up the piles is minimized. The only frictional area encountered by the pile 24 is the lineal contact around a periphery of the piling at each of the guide plates 22. This minimization of frictional resistance to driving decreases the amount of force required to drive the piles 14 or raise the span 12. Thus the piles 24 are less subject to damage since they may be driven with less severe pounding force. The antifrictional feature of the guide elements 17 of the present invention can be contrasted with prior guide elements which did not provide pile fitted plates 22 with lineal contact for horizontal orientation of the pile. Such prior art is exemplified by U.S. Letters Patent 2,997,852 to G. E. Suderow and U.S. Letters Patent 3,028,707 to W. Sagalovitch. The present invention thus substantially reduces frictional resistance to driving the piles 24 or raising the span 12, compared to the described prior art methods and apparatus.

Moreover the methods disclosed in the above mentioned art do not contemplate guiding the piles, during driving, by a pair of vertically spaced apart, lineally contacting restraints for positive definition of vertical orientation of the pile, while withholding it from frictional eggagement with the tube portion 18 of the guide element 1 Thus this invention is seen to provide a very economical improvement on previously known structures and processes for erecting bridge spans. Structures of the type described may be erected with greatly increased speed and facility. Throughout the country a great number of short span highway or roadway bridges are reaching deterioration and economical replacement of these is placing a severe burden on local and county governments. The

particularly addressed to a prefabricated, easily erected bridge which may be installed with minimum professional supervision for replacing short span road bridges. Collaterally, the present invention is believed useful in highway situations where road overpasses are required as for over limited-access road surfaces.

Having desecribed an operative embodiment of my invention, improvements, modifications and adaptations will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and such improvements, modifications and adaptations are intended to be included in the invention herein expressed, limited only by the scope of the hereinafter appended claims.

I claim:

1. In erection of a bridge span the steps comprising:

(a) positioning a pre-fabricated bridge span into a horizontal stationary placement resting on the ground directly below, and laterally oriented in vertical reg ister with, the horizontal position to be occupied by the span upon completion of said bridge;

(b) guidably driving support members vertically into the ground through pre-selected support points established by the bridge span whereby entry to the ground surface is proximate to said support points;

(0) vertically elevating the assembled span in control by said support members toward the top of the support members; and

(d) securing the assembled span to the support members at a final selected horizontal load bearing position.

2. The method of erecting a bridge structure as recited in claim 1, wherein said guidable driving of the pile is through a plurality of pairs of parallel registering spaced apart plates having vertically aligned apertures in close clearance registry with the cross-sectional shape of said piles.

3. In a method of erecting a bridge structure the steps comprising:

(a) integrating vertical tubular guides into pre-fabricated span of said bridge structure at selected support points thereon, each of said vertical guides having a transverse horizontal end plate portion at its top and bottom ends, each of said plate portions having an opening formed through it, the outline of said opening being linearly defined by a closure of geometrically straight lines;

(b) supporting the span horizontally on the terrain to be spanned, directly below the horizontal position to be occupied by the span after completion of said bridge structure;

(0) positioning vertical support members into the vertical guides while the span remains ground supported, said vertical support members having a geometrically linear horizontal cross section which conforms to the linear outline of said openings through said plate portions of said guides, for sliding contact fit of said vertical support members through said openings;

(d) driving the vertical support means through the vertical guides, into the ground to load bearing depth, whereby ground entry is proximate to the lower portion of the vertical guides;

(e) raising the span guidably up the support members to a selected final horizontal position and elevation; and

(g) permanently securing the span to the support members at the selected elevation.

4. In a bridge the structure comprising: a horizontal grid platform providing a deck support surface; a plurality of vertical tubular guide elements, said guides being integrated with said grid platform, said guides each having upper and lower end plates in a planar transverse position across said tube and each of said plates defining one of pair of openings in parallel spaced apart register, the outline of said openings being linearly defined by a closure of geometrically straight lines; and a plurality of vertical support members each having a linear cross-sectional shape substantially similar to said openings defined by said end closure plates of said tubular guides, said support members being slidably inserted through said openings defined in said end plates out of contact with said tubular plate support and being supported at one end by the ground.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 440,437 11/1890 Phillips 14-75 2,078,969 5/1937 Patterson 6l--53 X 2,775,869 1/1957 Pointer 6146.5 3,028,707 4/1962 Sagalovitch -80 X CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

N. C. BYERS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN ERECTION OF A BRIDGE SPAN THE STEPS COMPRISING: (A) POSITIONING A PRE-FABRICATED BRIDGE SPAN INTO A HORIZONTAL STATIONARY PLACEMENT RESTING ON THE GROUND DIRECTLY BELOW, AND LATERALLY ORIENTED IN VERTICAL REGISTER WITH, THE HORIZONTAL POSITION TO BE OCCUPIED BY THE SPAN UPON COMPLETION OF SAID BRIDGE; (B) GUIDABLY DRIVING SUPPORT MEMBERS VERTICALLY INTO THE GROUND THROUGH PRE-SELECTED SUPPORT POINTS ESTABLISHED BY THE BRIDGE SPAN WHEREBY ENTRY TO THE GROUND SURFACE IS PROXIMATE TO SAID SUPPORT POINTS; (C) VERTICALLY ELEVATING THE ASSEMBLED SPAN IN CONTROL BY SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS TOWARD THE TOP OF THE SUPPORT MEMBERS; AND (D) SECURING THE ASSEMBLED SPAN TO THE SUPPORT MEMBERS AT A FINAL SELECTED HORIZONTAL LOAD BEARING POSITION. 